Finance majors must have an interest in and aptitude for economics, math, and statistics. If these are not subjects you enjoy or excel in, then a major in finance is not for you.

Students studying the field of finance in an academic setting will find that the finance major is less related to accounting and more related to financial economics, a subset of economics that uses a lot of statistics and math.

Students may have a misconception of academic finance as including mainly bookkeeping. Job titles like "financial analyst" or "budget analyst" can mean many things and are elastic terms. Sometimes a financial analyst position requires an MBA or CFA (which certification requires a three-year post-graduate program); sometimes it involves matching credit card records and requires a high school diploma.

A certificate as Certified Financial Planner (CFP) requires a high school diploma and a passing grade on an exam that covers specialized material taught in courses equivalent to a semester of community college. An undergraduate program in finance will not help much to obtain a CFP certificate.

All students must fulfill the accounting mechanics (bookkeeping) competency prior to registration for ACCT 310: Financial Reporting.

Calculators: Although the TI-33 calculator may be used as a financial calculator in Finance classes, the faculty recommend that students use a financial calculator such as the TI-BAii+.

Internships: Because the required Finance major courses and required Finance elective courses in the Finance major are prerequisite to an academically meaningful internship in Finance, internships may not be substituted for any Finance major courses except in an extraordinary and rare case approved by the Curriculum Coordinator.